


ad multos annos

by wichahpi



Series: Elate Week 2016 [4]
Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-20
Updated: 2016-10-20
Packaged: 2018-08-23 15:31:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8332933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wichahpi/pseuds/wichahpi
Summary: In which they've all come a long way.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For Elate Week: **October 20th {Day Four}** \- Family || Blood; _we’ve come a long way_

If there’s one thing that Elena Fisher wasn't expecting, it’s their sudden, explosive popularity.

Sure, she knew what they were getting into when they made a deal with such a well-known cable network. This wasn’t her first rodeo, and it wasn’t even her first (or second, or third, or fourth) stint in front of a camera. She’d gotten her first experience with fans– not to mention a small, merry band of stalkers – when she was still fresh-faced and barely out of university and still adjusting back to life outside of a survival reality show. 

And sure, the words “re-legitimizing the brand” had been thrown around during production meetings more than a few times. But it was one thing to look at their viewers and ratings as numbers from her laptop in bed. It was another to _experience_ it.

It hadn’t been too jarring at first. The press tour, the influx of followers on her social media, the promotional photo shoot that she had to strategically bribe Nate into participating in, _that_ she all expected.

But the swarms of viewers that seemed more interested in them as a couple than anything of the actual adventures they documented for the show? She honestly didn’t see that one coming. Even when she posts the most unflattering of selfies, of her and Nate trying and failing to sleep during an eight hour layover in a busy airport – while Cassie was teething and miserable – had garnered comments such as “#marriagegoals” and the whole ordeal perplexed Nate and just seemed absurd to herself.

And now that Cassie’s a somewhat regular fixture on the show, it’s getting even stranger. A woman actually asked her six year old for her autograph after she and Nate had spoken at a museum benefit – one in their honor, thanking them for their recovery and donation of several priceless artifacts to their collection. Cassie had merely given the woman a perplexed look, before peeling off a glittery hedgehog sticker and placing it on the woman’s program. 

The woman had looked _delighted_.

But it’s easier to forget, sometimes, when there are no jobs on the immediate horizon and they can just hole up in their little corner of the world. At first, Elena had thought that she might dislike living somewhere that seemed so far off the beaten path, but she quickly realized, perhaps quite redundantly, how nice living in paradise is.

She says as much to Sully, as they sit on the front porch with a beer in hand as they watch Cassie play with her dolls in the hammock, Vicky curled underneath protectively.

Charlie and Chloe are napping inside – jetlag from London, they’d claimed. And if she squints, she can see two dots in the water that she assumes are her husband and brother-in-law, who were taking a much-deserved break from collecting firewood for later in the evening. 

“You know, darlin’, if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that you’re the best thing to ever happen to that kid. _You’re_ his paradise.”

Elena has to look away as she fights a sudden rush of tears prickling at her eyes, takes a long sip of her beer before the looks back at her surrogate father-in-law with a soft smile. “You going soft in your old age, Sully?”

Sully just gives her a wistful grin. “I never thought I’d see Nate so goddamn happy. Sue me if I’m a little mushy. And if you try to tell anybody, I’ll deny it til my dying day.” 

She gives Sully a warm smile before turning out to scan the horizon. It’s a beautiful day, although most days seem to be beautiful out here. She’s not sure if it’s the actual weather or her mood but either way, she’ll take it. 

“It’d better get a move on.” She says regretfully, pushing herself to stand and squeezing Sully’s shoulder. She checks her watch, sees that it’s well past the time she told herself she’d go inside and start baking. “Mind watching Cass while I go inside?”

“Of course not.” Sully scoffs. “We’ll be fine, won’t we, little darlin’?”

“We’ll be fine.” Cassie parrots, giggling at the silly face Sully makes behind her mother's back.

Elena sighs. “Behave, you two. I’ll be inside if you need me.”

The house is quiet when she enters it, and she peeks in on Charlie and Chloe to inform them of the evening’s plans before heading back to the kitchen. She sets her beer down on the counter and starts pulling ingredients out of cupboards, ticking things off mental checklist as she finds them She’s just set the oven to preheat and poured the dry ingredients together when she hears the door creak open.

The little footsteps indicate her daughter, so she’s not surprised when two little arms fling themselves around her from behind.

“Can I help, mama?” Cassie asks, sliding around so she’s tucked into her side.

Elena smiles down at her daughter’s hopeful expression. “Of course. Grab a chair.” 

“Yay!” Cassie cheers, releasing her mother to run over to the kitchen table. Elena watches in amusement as she carefully drags her favorite one over to the counter, pushing it up right beside her and clamoring to stand on top of it.

“What are you making?” Cassie asks curiously, tilting her head as she looks at the bowl in front of her mother.

“Do you know what tomorrow is?”

Cassie thinks for a moment, her face adorably perplexed for a split second before it hits her. “Daddy’s birthday!”

“Uh huh.” Elena smiles patiently, “So what do you think we’re going to make for him?”

Another moment of contemplation, and then a tentative “Um, a birthday cake?”

Elena nods, mock sternly. “Yes ma’am.” 

“I guessed it, I guessed it, I really really guessed it.” Cassie sing-songs proudly.

“Yes, you did.” Elena pokes her daughter’s side, making her giggle. “Now, crack these eggs for me?”

Cassie nods, immediately solemn and focused on her task. “Kay. Crack the eggs.”

Elena measures out the rest of the wet ingredients and watches as Cassie carefully picks up each egg, her tongue poking out as she judges the force needed to crack the shell. She misjudges with the first, and the egg splatters and yolk slides slowly down the edge of the sink.

“Uh oh.” Cassie’s head shoots up, and she gives her mother a sheepish grin. “Too hard.”

“Little bit.” Elena clears her throat to cover her laugh. The shell is absolutely _pulverized_. “It’s okay, we have more eggs. Can I help you a bit with the next one? Then you can do the rest by yourself.”

Cassie frowns and scrunches her nose at the sticky egg coating her fingers and nods. “Yes, please.”

She moves to stand next to her daughter, instructing her to pick up an egg before taking hold of her wrist to guide her. “Okay, so you want to hit it just like this.” They tap the egg on the corner together until a tiny crack forms. 

“And then you can use your fingers to open it up.” Elena demonstrates, dropping the first egg into the mixing bowl. “Now you try.”

Cassie’s tongue pokes out again, and she rolls a brown egg around with her fingers before tapping it gently on the counter. Elena wants to laugh at the intense look of focus on her face, but manages to hide her smile behind her arm as she moves to wipe some flour off her face. Cassie does surprisingly well, especially considering it took nearly six months for Nate to stop getting shells in his scrambled eggs. It takes longer than she’d initially planned, but Cassie’s excitement is as infectious as always, and she’s not even upset when Cassie flings a handful of flour and cocoa powder mix in her face. 

“You’re gonna get it, kid.” Elena warns, grabbing the sprayer from the sink and shooting a jet of water in Cassie’s direction. The little girl yelps, and in her scramble to get away she runs right into her father’s leg.

Elena’s surprised that she didn’t even hear him come in, and she notes – with mild displeasure – that he’s leaving a puddle of water where he stands, apparently having never heard of a towel.

“What’s this?” Nate asks with a mischievous grin. “Are we having a water fight in the kitchen?”

“Oh no, daddy.” Cassie pleads, backing right up into her mother. “Daddy, _no?_ ”

He’s still grinning when he starts to shake his head back and forth, spraying droplets of water everywhere. 

Cassie shrieks and giggles. “Daddy stop it, you’re not Vicky!”

Elena tries to skirt around him and avoid the worst of it but he catches her around the waist, nuzzling his head into her shoulder and soaking her arm in the process. “Ugh, _Nate_.” She groans. “Stop getting me all wet.”

She regrets her word choice instantly when Nate immediately grins lecherously at her. “That’s not what you usually say to me.”

“Shut up.” She hits his arm lightly. “Kid in the room.”

“So?” Nate shrugs. “Hey Cassie Pants, whaddaya think? Should mommy give daddy a big birthday kiss?”

“Your birthday’s not even until tomorrow.” Elena mutters, just as Cassie nods enthusiastically. 

“Mommy, kiss daddy!” Cassie insists, crossing her arms with adorable emphasis.

“You heard the boss.” Nate grins. “You _have_ to kiss me.”

Elena raises an eyebrow at him, crossing her arms too. “Do I now?”

“Yes.” Cassie says, just as Nate shrugs guilelessly. “It’s daddy’s birthday.”

“Not for another six hours it’s not.” Elena says cheekily.

“Well, you can be my _early_ birthday present.”

Elena rolls her eyes but is grinning when Nate closes the distance between them. She tries to keep it fairly chaste, but Nate is insistent as he encourages her to open her mouth to him, and she lets herself indulge for a few long moments before pulling back slightly.

“Not fair, using our kid to get lucky.” She murmurs against his lips as they pull apart. Her shirt is now _definitely_ soaked, and she suspects that might’ve been in Nate’s plans all along.

“You know I play dirty.” He replies teasingly, licking his lips as he leans against the counter next to her.

Cassie claps her hands happily, looking between the two of them. “Kiss again!”

Nate chuckles before picking her up, tickling her as she shrieks and wiggles as his cold skin touches hers. “Honey, if mama and daddy kiss any more you’ll probably need more therapy than you already do.”

She tilts her head at him. “What’s therapy?”

“It’s where you get to tell a professional about all the PDA your father made you witness as a child.”

“Not to mention all of the actual skeletons you’ve seen up close.” Nate shudders. “And maybe about that clown you saw on TV.”

Cassie still looks confused, but nods in acceptance. “Daddy, I’m cold now.” She pouts.

Nate sets her back down on the floor, and Elena trails a hand over her head gently. “Well, a little birdie told me that if you go outside, Uncle Sam’s going to be making s’mores soon.” 

Cassie’s eyes light up and she bolts away from them, and Elena moves towards the window in time to see her run up to Sam and Sully, who seem to be attempting to start a fire.

“Alone, _finally_.” Nate groans, sliding his arms dangerously low around her, pulling her flush against him and dropping his head to her neck.

“Did you and Sam enjoy your swim?” Elena asks, wrapping her own arms around his neck.

Nate flinches. “Can we not talk about my brother right now? Please?”

“Should I talk about what I caught Charlie and Chloe doing on the couch last night?” She asks cheekily.

“Alright.” Nate drops his hands from around her. “Mood officially ruined. I hope you’re happy with yourself.”

“Then I guess I shouldn’t tell you that tomorrow night, everyone plans on going to spend the night town and catch a movie.” At Nate’s uncomprehending look, she continues. “Everyone _except_ us.”

“Oh.” Nate says, and then it hits him. “ _Oh._ ”

“Easy there, cowboy.” Elena pats his chest at his cat-who-ate-the-canary grin. “They’ll be back by breakfast.”

“Can’t a guy be excited to be finally, _finally_ alone with his wife?” Nate murmurs. “It’s been, what, how many months since we’ve had a real night alone, just the two of us?”

“A few.” Elena nods. Cassie had been increasingly less eager to spend time with people other than then, especially when Nate and Elena were off filming for the show. Especially now that she understood that her parents were still out adventuring, only just without her. The one time they’d managed to convince her to stay with Chloe and Charlie, she’d ended up in the hospital with tonsillitis and they’d rushed home to be with her.

“Look on the bright side.” Elena squeezes his bicep. “In about ten years, she’ll probably be so embarrassed by us that she’ll never want to be seen with us in public ever again.”

“That’s – “ Nate huffs, his heart twisting a bit. “That’s not actually helping _at all_.”

Elena rubs her hand up and down his arm before dropping it to twine her fingers with his. 

“And in fifteen years, she probably won’t even _live_ with us anymore.”

“Elena, stop it.” Nate begs. 

“That’s not what you usually say to me.” Elena smirks up at him. Before he can even react, though, she’s walking away from him towards their bedroom. “I’m going to change into a dry shirt. But you better go dry off outside and keep an eye on your dad and brother before they let our kid eat herself into a sugar coma if you _ever_ want to see me shirtless again.”

“You’re the worst.” Nate grumbles as he heads towards the door

“We’ll see if you’re still saying that tomorrow night!” Elena calls out, and Nate can’t help but grin as he heads outside.

The next morning, Elena had intended to get up early and make breakfast for everyone, but between the extra hour it took for Cassie to settle down – she was damn near vibrating with excitement from having all of her favorite people in one place – and Nate collecting on his early birthday present, she wakes up embarrassingly late. Nate’s side of the bed is empty but not quite cold yet, and she hears the faint sounds of their shower running.

She walks quietly into the hallway and peeks around the corner to see Sam – cooking? She spots the back of Chloe’s head as she curls up in a chair with a mug and she can hear the voices of Charlie and Sully, likely trading stories of their latest escapades while little ears weren’t around to overhear. Cassie herself is nowhere in sight but she’s not at all surprised, even before she cracks open her bedroom door to find her sprawled across her bed. The six year old had stayed up well past her bedtime the night before, even by their own, unconventional standards. 

Satisfied that no one would probably burn the house down if they take their time making an appearance, she quietly strips her clothes off and heads to the bathroom to join Nate in the shower.

“Hey, you.” Nate grins at her as she slides open the glass door. The soap in his hair makes it stand on end and water clings to his ridiculously long eyelashes, and her heart swoops a little at the look on his face.

“Hey, you.” She returns with a sly smile as she closes the door behind her. “Is there room for two in here?”

“I guess.” He sighs, tugging her to him and giving her a mock stern look. “But absolutely no monkey business. The tile is _very_ dangerous and slippery when wet.”

Which of course means that it takes them nearly half an hour to _get dressed_ , but thankfully no one teases them when they both appear in the kitchen with damp hair.

Which should’ve been their first clue.

“I can’t believe you cooked me breakfast.” Nate shakes his head in disbelief, eyes darting from the impressive stack of pancakes and the pile of bacon that was waiting for them.

“Hey, I might not be a five-star chef but I can at least follow the directions on a pancake box.” Sam defends himself, affronted. 

Nate gives his older brother a look. “Coming from the guy that managed to burn Spaghetti-O’s.”

“That was a long time ago.” Sam proclaims, hand over his heart. “I’m a changed man.”

“Yeah, well, let me taste these pancakes before we declare you the next Martha Stewart.”

“Go right ahead.” Sam waves him forward, taking a bite of his own pancake and sitting down at the table. “Prepare to be amazed.”

Elena shakes her head at both Drakes, and Nate loads one plate up and hands it to Elena before loading another and walking over to sit at the table.

Just as he’s about to sit down, Cassie appears at the end of the hall, rubbing her eyes with a frown. She quickly glances around the room before zeroing in on Nate, nearly tripping over her own feet in her haste to get to him.

“Hey, Cassie Pants.” Nate grins, pancakes forgotten as he lifts her up and sits down with her on his lap.

“Happy Birthday, daddy.” Cassie yawns, burying her face in his neck.

“Mmm, it’s already the best birthday ever.” He declares, winking at Elena.

She narrows her eyes at him for a second before turning her attention to their daughter.

Cassie barely looks half awake as she leans against Nate’s shoulder and if she looks carefully, Elena is pretty sure she can see the remnants of a gooey marshmallow stuck in her hair. Making a mental note to give her a bath before they leave for the day, Elena turns her attention to where her brother-in-law is grinning a little too smugly across the table from her.

“What’s got you so happy?” She doesn’t know her brother-in-law nearly as well as Nate, but one thing is true about every Drake in her life: they are decisively not morning people and are usually never as annoyingly cheerful until after breakfast – or at least coffee – had been consumed.

“Oh, just this article I found.” Sam says casually. _Too_ casually.

“Oh yeah?” Nate asks with a mouthful of pancake, only looking slightly forlorn when Cassie steals his next bite right off the fork. “What about?”

“Alright, you asked for it, buddy. Remember that.” Sam mutters before giving him the biggest shit-eating grin she’s ever seen, at least since that time Cassie managed to climb onto the kitchen counter and break into her stash of jelly beans.

“ _Is Nathan Drake the hottest dad on television? Scroll down for 10 of the most aww-worthy photos!_ ” Her brother-in-law crows mockingly, spinning his laptop around to show the title in big, bold block letters. 

“Let me see that.” Elena drops her fork and carefully leans across the table to snatch Sam’s laptop. 

Ever the journalist, she immediately checks the name of the author in case she needs to write a strongly worded - but polite - email in the near future. Because staring up at her, right at the top of BuzzFeed’s trending list, is a shirtless picture of her husband.

It’s more than a little disconcerting. 

She clicks through the slideshow, recognizes most pictures as either ones she’d posted to her own social media or ones that had made it to the show’s official blog. 

One of Cassie perched Nate’s shoulders, Nate holding her favorite toy – a stuffed elephant that had seen better days, as they overlooked the Himalayas in the distance. 

A shot of them in an airport, Nate pulling Cassie on top of a suitcase as they make their way towards their gate. 

One of Nate teaching her how to swim, his face beaming with pride even as Cassie’s splash hits him square in the face. 

Nate in full hiking gear, Cassie snug in the pack on his back as they climbed in the Andes. 

Another one, from Cassie’s first trip to Disney World, with Nate and Cassie wearing matching sequined Minnie Mouse headbands, staring each other down as they take a bite from either end of a large whorl of pink cotton candy. 

Even one including herself, holding Cassie up to look through a camera as Nate sticks his tongue out on the other side.

So many of her favorite moments, captured for eternity on film. And, apparently, on _BuzzFeed_.

“Well. This is strange.” She says dryly. 

“You’re telling me.” Nate mumbles, looking profoundly uncomfortable.

“Hottest. Dad. Ever.” Sam teases, giving Nate an appraising look. “I gotta tell you, I’m almost offended.”

Nate shoots him an annoyed look. “Why are you even on these trash sites, anyways?”

“I have a Google Alert set for your name.” Sam shrugs unapologetically.

“You have a _what_?” Nate asks incredulously. 

“Just eat your pancakes, little brother. Before they get cold.” 

They spend the bulk of the day out on the boat together. Nate sails over to their favorite spot, a secluded inlet a few nautical miles from their beach, where the water is calm and clear and a small waterfall rains down a wall of dark rock.

“Charlie, Chloe, look at me!” Cassie calls out. “I can swim all by myself now!”

The little girl stands on the edge of the boat, waiting until Chloe and Charlie – the only two who hadn’t seen her new ability yet – are watching before she jumps into the water.

“Wow.” Chloe looks suitably impressed as Cassie paddles below them, grabbing onto one of the floating toys Elena had tossed in after her. “What’s next, driving? I’m a great teacher –“

“No.” Nate says firmly, giving Chloe a look. “She’s _six_.” 

Cassie tilts her head curiously. “Daddy, can Chloe teach me how to drive next?”

“Not until you’re sixteen.” Nate says firmly as he glares at Chloe. “Or maybe sixty.” 

“Aw, you’re no fun.” Chloe ribs him. She slaps his back and gives him a teasing grin. “Look at you. Nathan Drake, overprotective dad and housetrained husband.” She turns to give Elena a grin. “Nice job, love.”

Elena shakes her head, eyes bright with mirth. “It wasn’t easy. Those first few years, he couldn’t stop overfilling the dishwasher.” 

“Hey, it’s my birthday.” Nate pouts. “Aren’t you guys supposed to be nice to me?”

Elena raises an eyebrow at him. “If I recall correctly, I was very _nice_ to you this morning.”

Before Nate can respond, they’re both being pushed forward, and they fall into the water. They resurface to the sound of Cassie’s giggles – who looks absolutely delighted by this development, – and the sight of a few very smug faces above them.

“I thought you guys needed to maybe cool off a bit.” Sam shouts from aboard the boat.

“Oh, you’re so gonna pay for that.” Nate mutters as he pulls himself back onboard, and within a few minutes _everyone_ is in the water.

Somehow, they make it back home in time for dinner and another fire – without the s’mores this time – and Cassie proudly helps Elena present Nate with his cake.

“I helped.” Cassie announces, climbing up onto her father's lap. “I even did some of the frosting.”

“I can tell.” Nate kisses her head. “How did you know that pink is my favorite color?”

Charlie nearly chokes on his drink, and Elena can’t help but laugh as Cassie enthusiastically explained why his cake _obviously_ needed pink frosting and rainbow sprinkles. He lets her blow out the candles for him, and Elena can’t help but capture a shot of her smearing pink frosting all over her face as Nate looks at her adoringly. 

If she uploads it to her Instagram with the caption “hottest dad ever?”, she’ll never admit it to him.

“She’ll probably be asleep before you even hit the main road.” Elena tells Sully quietly, after they’ve packed up the rental car and Cassie is secured in her car seat. “Her stuffed elephant is in her backpack, make sure she has it in bed with her.”

“We’ll be fine, darlin’.” Sully promises, kissing her on the forehead. “Cassie and I’ll just go to the hotel and turn in. Now, you two crazy kids have some fun.” 

"But not _too_ much fun." Sam clarifies out the window.

On Sully’s wink, Nate walks up beside her and slings an arm around her shoulder. “Don’t worry about us, old man. We’ll be fine on our own.”

Sully guffaws, shaking his head at the two of them before sliding into the driver’s seat. 

“Bye, lovebirds!” Charlie rolls down the window to rib them.

“I should say the same to you.” Elena looks pointedly at Chloe, who has the nerve to look innocent when Charlie twists to look at her.

“You told her?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Chloe deadpans, sending Elena a wink when Charlie turns back around, glancing back up and Nate and Elena in embarrassment.

"You guys aren't exactly subtle." Nate informs him, and Charlie's cheeks only redden as Chloe chortles behind him.

They watch the headlights slowly disappear in the trees, and Elena feels Nate’s hand creep dangerously low as he sighs gratefully. “I _never_ thought they’d leave.”

“Did you ever think we’d have it this good?” Elena asks him later that night, as they lay exhausted and sleepy in their bed. She thinks of their family, of all the friendship they’ve made around the world. Of Cassie, and how bright and inquisitive and adventurous she already is. Of _them_ , and how _good_ they are together. Without any secrets, or doubts, or leaving each other behind. How everything they'd been through had only made them stronger.

“Not in a million years.” Nate admits, rolling onto his side to kiss the scar on the left side of her chest and rolling back as Elena follows his movement, turning on her side to lay against his chest. “We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?”

She hums against him in agreement, eyes drifting closed as she slowly falls asleep. “Happy Birthday, Nathan.”

“But I _am_ the hottest dad ever, right?” Nate asks the darkness, and her eyes pop open to look up at the shadowed outline of his face. “I mean, on a scale of one to ten. I’d totally be an eleven, right?”

“Of course.” Elena rolls her eyes, smiling to herself. “Now go to sleep.”

But just as he’s drifting off, he hears his wife’s teasing voice in his ear. “Well...maybe an _eight_.”


End file.
